The strangest week of my life

It's been a very long and strange week.  I was selected for jury duty in a drug case on Tuesday and spent many long hours in a windowless and stuffy (the air conditioning was only sort of working) courtroom during the course of Tuesday through Friday.  We were sequestered during the day.  We were kept in a jury room with its own bathrooms when we were on breaks.  We were escorted to lunch.  We were treated with great respect (everyone stood when we entered the courtroom, even the judge) and guarded like dangerous criminals.  It was very weird.  In an effort to get through the trial, we heard testimony and saw evidence until 7:30 each night.  It was a lot of sitting and a lot of concentration so as not miss anything important.  During all this, a business colleague went missing, and it became a race every break to check and respond to emails concerning the latest updates.  Finally on Friday at 4:00 pm, the case was turned over to us.  There was some intense debate, but I'm proud to say my co-jurors were pretty awesome.  Everyone was respectful of the others' opinions.  Some difficult decisions were made but we ended up rendering guilty verdicts on both defendants.  But the hardest part was yet to come.  At 9:00, we went to the courtroom to deliver our verdict.  When the young man of 24 with no prior record heard his verdict, he started to cry.  But when the judge read the sentencing guidelines of 15-20 years for a first time offender, he and his family lost it.  The judge asked the family to step out of the courtroom if they could not maintain composure; meanwhile the guy is being handcuffed 2 feet in front of me.  The family left but you could hear them sobbing outside the doors.  Then they started to fight with each other over whose fault it was.  It was very emotional and very difficult to watch.  It was so sad for that young man to have made such unfortunate decisions and to have to pay such a price.  The judge hustled us back to the jury room and told the court police to make sure the building was empty before the jury left and to escort us to our vehicles.  I'm very thankful it is over.  However, I still have one week left on my summons and since my selection number is very low, there is apparently a possibility I could have another trial this next week.  I hope not.  I don't think my nerves can take it.